If you spotted a space to the left of the Rook and Pawn with shiny new vinyl on the door reading “Cura” recently and wondered what that meant, here’s the deal. The space backs up to the Creature Comforts taproom on Hancock Avenue, and it turns out Cura is the local brewery’s new cocktail bar. (The name derives from the Latin words for “to care” and “to be curious,” according to the company.)
It opens Thursday and will generally be open to the public Thursday through Saturday from 5–10 p.m. You can rent the space for private events during the rest of the week.
Ballard Lesemann, once upon a time Flagpole‘s music editor and most recently found tending bar at Five & Ten, is working on the bar program at Cura, crafting cocktails with house-distilled spirits. Cura also pours the beer, obviously, and the housemade vodka seltzers that Creature launched somewhat recently.
Why do this at all? You may not be aware of it, but beer drinking in the U.S. is at its lowest level in a generation, and the craft beer market is contracting. In other words, diversifying is a necessity.
In other news: Toward the center of downtown, near Target, Tai Chi Bubble Tea unexpectedly closed up shop last week.
And at Little Kings, Rashe Malcolm’s Culinary Kitchen of Athens is doing its Foodie Saturdays program again, starting in August. Each week brings a different cooking competition: “create your own dish” (Aug. 2), “summer sandwiches” (Aug. 9), “cookout/grilled foods” (Aug. 16) and “soup and chili cookoff” (Aug. 23). You don’t have to participate to have fun. Instead, you can sample dishes for free and take home some free produce courtesy of the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. Keep checking the link above for times and more details.
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